Valerian Tea... Yuck!

defritz

Guest

I have been having trouble sleeping for quite some time. :yawn I have medication but, of course, can't take it every night or I will become dependant on it. :nono Melatonin no longer works for me. Have tried every other remedy I have ever heard: Warm milk, warm milk with nutmeg (thanks, red! :thumb), herbal teas, reading, adjusting diet and exercise, etc.... NOTHING WORKS! =grrr

My husband suggested trying valerian root.

Okay.... =shrug I've heard it works, so WHY NOT? :lol

We went to a whole foods store and bought a package of valerian root and a box of valerian tea. As soon as I picked it up off the shelf, I could tell it smelled AWFUL! But... I was willing to try it. :blah

Last night, DH brewed up a cup of the tea for me. The minute he put the bag in the water, the smell permeated the entire house. :worried He put in milk, a pinch of sugar and quite a bit of honey and plopped the cup in front of me.

Ick... it still smelled awful.

=gulp Down my mouth it went

uke SO GROSS!!... it tasted like I went into the back yard, picked some weeds, threw it in hot water and added a sprinkle of dirt.

But, it worked... for a while. The effect wore off after about an hour... but I still want to use it, just not as early! =hammer

Question is... how do I make it taste decent???

And what do you do with the whole root? I don't know why we got that package =dunno What the heck do I do with it??

red stripe

Guest

Rubysky

Guest

I hope he didn't run it thru the coffee machine. I did that once and thought I would never get the taste out of it. If the valerian root helped, you can get it in capsils.NOTHING will ever make it taste decent. Good luck with finding something to help you sleep.

J

jk

Guest

I can't imagine drinking the valerian tea The after taste of the capsules is bad enough =eek I had the opposite reaction to the valerian- it made me hyper. Erin have you tried a sound machine? I have a travel clock that I got at Sharper Image that I have set to the ocean waves. This helps sometimes. Also try a good brand of Chamomile tea from a health food store. Good luck.

L

LotsofSunshine

Guest

Defritz - I do not know of your situation, but have you tried a new mattress? Or, open a window to get some fresh air. Also, lower the temperature. Also, not as many blankets. Also, nice new high count sheets. Maybe your sleep partner(if you have one) is taking up too much of the bed and you do not have enough room. Just a few things that you might try that might be in a different direction. I know that sleeping on a ship would probably do the trick. Hope that you find something that works.

Lots of Sunshine

G

GloBug

Guest

Yicch...I tried Valerian caps, and they also made me hyper. My boss swears by them. I can't stand them. They DO taste like dirt... I too have a difficult time sleeping. What does help is a OTC med I found at Target that is basically dipenhydromine (sic). I think it's called Target brand Sleep Aid. Also, exercise (which I don't do enough of) and port at night, after 8pm.

I have found that if I am active after 8pm, that it gets my energy up and going, and I can not relax in any way to get to sleep before midnight. Keep the room cool, power yourself down before 8pm, and windchime music (works for me!) contribute to falling asleep... staying asleep is another story!

Good luck. If you find something that works, share with us!

C

conniecat

Guest

diphenhydramine is the generic for Benedyrl. A dose of that knocks me out for 12 hours/ I have a hard time sleeping for lon because of my arthritis. I take a pain pill and muscle relaxer and that does the trick to get me to sleep, but about 5 to 6 hours is all I can spend vertical. I have been known to get up and sit in a chair and sleep.

defritz

Guest

Thanks guys for all your suggestions. Unfortunately, I have tried them all

Our mattress is only 2 yrs old.

We have the best sheets we can afford

I have a little desk top fan next to my bed that I run at night. The "white noise" helps sometimes.

We have all the windows upstairs open... it's as cold as we can get it at night.

But, yes... my husband does contribute to my sleeping problems. He twitches as he's falling asleep and WHILE he's asleep, sometimes. He usually waits until I fall alseep to allow himself to sleep... but lately, I haven't been tired until after 10pm. If he falls asleep first, his twitching during the night keeps me from falling asleep.

And not only that, he does really goofy things in his sleep. Like last night, he woke me up at 12:30 and kept asking me, "Did you forget something???" I told him, "no, go back to sleep" and he kept insisting that I forgot something. He eventually rolled over and went back to sleep, but by that time I was wide awake... downstairs I went, and I slept on the couch. He doesn't remember ANY of this happening!!! :lol

I took the morning off of work to get a few hours' extra sleep. This is really taking a toll on my body.. :worried